Louisiana REALTORS® wants REALTORS® to keep safety top of mind on the job by increasing knowledge about the dangers, awareness of surroundings and situations, and empowerment to be cautious and stay safe. REALTOR® Safety not only pertains to physical self, but to your client's properties and most recently identity theft and Internet security.

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Phishing Smishing - How to Not Fall Victim to Scams
Smishing is a new term used to describe using text messages to trick mobile users into handing over personal data, financial information, or even cash. Because email service providers like Google or Yahoo continue to develop new ways to combat spam and phishing, text scams are becoming more prominent with hackers. 

REALTORS® are especially prone to this type of scam because mobile phone numbers are published in multiple places and hackers have found a way to intercept the transaction to gather financial information. Earlier this month NAR issued a scam alert where members reported receiving a message asking for payment of a fine or a notification telling the recipient they have won a prize. 

Urgent Alert: Sophisticated Email Scams Targeting the Real Estate Industry
Criminals are hacking into the email accounts of real estate agents or other persons involved in a real estate transaction and using information gained from the hack to dupe a party into a fraudulent wire transfer. The hackers often send an email that appears to be from an individual legitimately involved in the transaction, informing the recipient, often the buyer, that there has been a last minute change to the wiring instructions.  Following the new instructions, the recipient will wire funds directly to the hacker’s account, which will be cleared out in a matter of minutes. The money is almost always lost forever. <<Read more from NAR>>

Phishing scams: Don’t let your clients get caught on the hook
Phishing and wire fraud continue to present the biggest threats real estate agents and their clients will face in 2017.  Hackers have discovered a soft spot for committing financial fraud, and agents and our transactions are the bull’s-eye. As professionals, we need to do everything in our power to stop and prevent a single loss of our client’s purchase or sale proceeds. <<Read More from Inman>> (login required)